The present invention is directed, in general, to wireless communications systems and, more specifically, to apparatus, methods and systems for providing vehicular traffic information through a wireless telecommunications network.
The world is currently experiencing revolutionary changes in communications systems, brought about, in part, by the general availability and evolution of wireless telephony systems. Immediately after the first mobile user headed off into the sunset with a cellular telephone, or Mobile Station (MS), however, someone else wondered where they went. Unlike conventional wireline telephones, wireless callers are not usually associated with a fixed location, which provides many benefits such as freedom of use over large geographical areas. Because the location of a Mobile Station (MS), or wireless device in general, is usually not fixed, however, such freedom can be a detriment to a cellular user, such as when a user requires emergency assistance. For example, in a conventional wireless network, the location of a MS can not be determined when a user places a call to a public safety answering point (PSAP), such as a call to xe2x80x9c911.xe2x80x9d
Across the United States, various public safety agencies have reported that 911 calls from cellular telephones now constitute between 15 percent and 40 percent of all 911 calls received; recent statistics indicate that over 7 million cellular 911 calls are placed per year. Although public safety agencies desire to provide the same level of service to cellular callers as they do to landline callers, they are hampered by a great divergence in technology. The issue of supporting cellular 911 calls has become serious enough that on Feb. 12, 1998, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Cellular Telephone Industry Association (CTIA) announced an agreement on a five-year implementation plan for deploying geographical location systems within all wireless networks.
In response to the FCC/CTIA implementation plan, various systems for providing the geographic location of MSs have been developed or proposed. The systems are generally network-based solutions that xe2x80x9coverlayxe2x80x9d a wireless carrier""s existing network. As an overlay system, such systems monitor the numbers of all calls placed from MSs within a wireless network and, upon detecting a 911 call, initiate a procedure to determine the approximate geographic location of the MS. In addition to the desire to provide geographic location information for a MS placing a 911 call, the availability of such information can also make possible many useful services, such as location-sensitive billing. Although the capability to provide such services will allow service providers to recoup some of the investment that must be made to comply with the FCC/CTIA requirement for the geographic location of 911 calls, a service provider""s return-on-investment will be maximized if further uses of such information are developed; i.e., a service provider can increase revenues by offering premium services that use geographic location information.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art are novel premium telecommunications services based on the use of geographic location information for MSs in a wireless network; such premium services should preferably take advantage of the existing infrastructure of wireless telecommunications networks.
To address the above-discussed deficiencies of the prior art, the present invention relates to apparatus, methods and systems for providing vehicular traffic information through a wireless telecommunications network. An exemplary system includes a geographic location system (GLS), a database containing vehicular roadway information, and a vehicular traffic determination node. The GLS is operative to determine the approximate physical location of at least one Mobile Station (MS) in communication with the wireless telecommunications network. The vehicular traffic determination node is operative to i) receive and correlate the approximate physical location of the MS to the vehicular roadway information to generate vehicular traffic information, and ii) communicate the vehicular traffic information to the wireless telecommunications network; the wireless telecommunications network can selectively-transmit or broadcast the vehicular traffic information.
In exemplary embodiments described hereinafter, a GLS determines the approximate physical location of a MS as a function of a predefined event. Predefined events can be, for example, the origination of a wireless call by a MS, the origination of a wireless call to a MS, the termination of a wireless call by a MS, the termination of a wireless call to a MS, the receipt of Short Message Service (SMS) information by a MS, and a periodic location update of a MS. Various GLS technologies can be utilized, such as Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) or Angle of Arrival (AOA) signaling techniques to determine an approximate physical location of a MS. Moreover, the GLS can form a portion of the wireless telecommunications network or can be an independent system, such as the satellite-based Global Positioning System.
The vehicular roadway information preferably includes information such as the physical locations of vehicular roadways, the number of traffic lanes of each vehicular roadway, and the nominal speed limits of each vehicular roadway. Upon correlating the approximate physical location of a MS to the vehicular roadway information, the vehicular traffic information can include, for example, a physical roadway location of a vehicle associated with a MS, a maximum speed of a vehicle associated with a MS, a minimum speed of a vehicle associated with a MS, and an average speed of a vehicle associated with a MS.
The vehicular traffic information can be communicated to the wireless telecommunications network for transmission to a MS; the information can be selectively-transmitted to specific MSs or broadcast to all MSs traveling within a network or a portion thereof. Preferably, a MS includes, or is coupled to, a display for visually presenting the vehicular traffic information to a MS user. The vehicular traffic information can also be communicated to other locations, such as a traffic management center.
The foregoing has outlined, rather broadly, the principles of the present invention so that those skilled in the art may better understand the detailed description of the exemplary embodiments that follow. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they can readily use the disclosed conception and exemplary embodiments as a basis for designing or modifying other structures and methods for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. Those skilled in the art should also realize that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest form.